fropappy

I replace the distributor cap and rotor every 12-18 months. If I don't, it starts running like crap!

Happened to me this weekend! I don't know in what order, but the seawater pump seal was pushed out and one bearing was making noise. Damaged my serpentine belt, but I was able to shut it down before the temp went north of 175F. It was disappointing to miss most of the weekend in my own boat, but two Malibus and one Baja came to my rescue by letting us hang with them the next 3 days. It was surely repayment for all the hours I had spent pulling these same people (or their children) around the lake.

My 2008 Lightning C4 has 345 hours and I have it listed for $34K. Don't expect to move it until Spring, and that's OK. I surfed behind it Saturday. Water was still 74 degrees!

Distributor cap and rotor. (Pretty much every 12-18 months on my 2008 Black Scorpion)

That's what I'm here for! BTW, that was behind a Malibu VLX. Mine was the default surf boat, the VLX handed wakeboarding and tubing action for the day. We are heading to Lake Greeson for a little more wake surfing and wakeboard/invert action this weekend.

http://<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ENEAXtrbhao" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Seeing if I can remember how to imbed.

"https://www.youtube.com/embed/ENEAXtrbhao" I'll be 48 in August. Landed two out of 3 wakeboard heelside backrolls Saturday on Degray Lake.

Took my 2008 Lightning out a few weeks ago before going on a family vacation. It fired up in a couple seconds. Ran it for maybe 5 minutes and then took it home and changed the oil & filter and cleaned the dist cap and rotor. (I replace or clean the cap & rotor every year, so this is very routine) Took it to the lake this weekend and it would spin over, but wouldn't hit a beat. Kill switch is working great. When I pull it, the lights go out and starter will not engage. Put the clip back in and everything electrical seems to work, including the needle on the oil gauge. I had this happen a few years ago after I let a shop change the oil. They had just lost their ability to do Mercruiser warranty work when they dropped Centurion, so they sent it across town to a Mercruiser dealer for diagnosis. That was a major clue that I was using the wrong dealership. It was also my last time there. The other dealer took 2.5 hours to diagnose a wire that had been knocked loose from an oil pressure sensor. Original dealership was billed, not me. I never found out where that wire was. Showing 3/4 tank of fuel. I think I hear the fuel pump run for a few seconds, then shut off once it pressures up. Hard to tell over the noise of the perfect pass. I spent over an hour checking every wire connection I could put my hands on. Been working late this week, so I haven't had a chance to check the normal fuel/fire/air. Hope to catch a break Wednesday after work. I still think it will be a single wire connection that I knocked loose during the oil change. I'll report what I find.

Stoked! I remember cleaning the cap while he cleaned the rotor, but I think we put the wires back on together. Recipe for disaster. I went outside and checked just now and the coil wire was on #2 & #2 wire was on the center/coil. Glad I took your advice and looked again. It was probably me that goofed it up.

Yes. I've done this about 5 times now, so it is very routine. Had a mechanic buddy with me when we cleaned it a few weeks ago (that's how he makes his living) and he verified it while we were putting everything back together. Did this while I was draining the oil, so we didn't have a chance to start it up right then.

I moved my servo back in 2011. It was posted on photobucket. Is that even still around???

I've been slacking. Never made it to one of these. Used to have lots of fun at LSF in Monroe, LA when I was into wakeboarding. Of course that was 16-18 years ago... It's not that far from Little Rock, AR

My 2008 Perfect Pass sucks! I've never made it through a entire summer without some kind of issue. The display goes black sometimes. Servo locked up 2nd year, so I had to buy a new one and relocate it to a drier location on the front of the engine. It was hit and miss in 2014. I don't think it worked a single time in 2015. I've had it in for service twice, but they never found the issue. Hoping to upgrade to Stargazer when I get back from vacation.

I bought my 2008 Lighting new in May 2010. It had 4 demo hours on it. I have never made a full Summer without problems from my Perfect Pass. They are usually intermittent and varied. I have replaced the paddle wheel, and finally removed & checked each plug on the main unit. I can't figure it out and it's taking the joy out of lake life. Symptoms vary a lot: PP will beep and reboot causing speed to rapidly increase or drop. Doesn't matter if PP is on or off. I have to pull the power plug or a fuse to stop it. Sometimes the speed on the large analog speedo is perfect, but the PP speedo is way low or zero. Sometimes they are both way low or at zero. Sometimes both with work/stop/work/stop every few seconds. I've taken it to two different dealerships for service, but it worked perfectly both times. I'm on my 4th multi-day camping trip of the year. It has worked correctly for one full day and 2/3 of yesterday. I ran a new ground from PP to the battery right before last trip. It fooled me by working the next full day on the water, but then reverted back to it's standard manic depressive self.

Never found an answer to my Perfect Pass problems last year, but did realize that it was doing the start up test about every 90 seconds while we were running down the lake. This is while PP is off. Makes the boat speed up then slow down before going back to normal speed. When I pull the fuse on the purple power wire, all that nonsense stops. I can still see the factory gauges "blip" a little every 90 seconds or so. Makes me think the problem is related. Both batteries are still checking out as good, but they are 2010 or older. (Purchased in May 2010) Guess I will replace both batteries. If that doesn't change anything, I will run new temporary power and ground wires to the control unit under the dash and see where this gets us.

Nice!

I kept trying different things with only occasional success. Never could get any back to back. Maybe one or two in an entire day or weekend. Finally, spent a couple weekends with Some young riders who were a lot better than me. They were killing it. The oldest one asked to ride my new board. He starting sliding it sideways. Once I started doing that, I got a much better feel for breaking it loose and not falling. That, plus a quick rotation, seemed to be the magic combo. In that vid, I was riding behind a new 23' Malibu LSV It had a lot of push, even though it wasn't very steep. That also helped a lot.

Beautiful boat! Welcome to the Crew

It's October, but I'm holding out for at least one more weekend on the water. Think I'm gonna change my oil before I store it for the winter. Been pondering a change to Rotella or Royal Purple. Already replaced the fuel filter.

I'm finally beginning to figure out 360s

3 new dealers in Arkansas, plus one in Texarkna. Sweet...

At least I'm smiling now!!!

The wife saw me dragging around the house the past few days and asked what was wrong. We are supposed to meet up with her entire family at Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs, AR. None of them understand or participate in water sports. Tonight she asked if I wanted to go surf with some of my old friends Saturday instead of hanging with her family. It's not the Crew weekend, but

My dealer no longer has Centurion. I don't think there's a Centurion dealer anywhere in Arkansas. If I want one, Closest dealer will be in Texas.

Been a busy week, so I haven't been able to do much to it. Was running great , so we took it to the lake anyway. (Perfect Pass or not) The speed display on PP read zero for a couple miles and then varied up to 4 mph. PP was still cycling off and on, (even though I had it turned off) so I had to pull the purple wire to remove power. We were showing 25 mph on the in-dash speedo It was then that I realized the in-dash analog speedo had worked all day plus the previous couple trips. The paddle wheel is the only speed sensor I have. I'm staying home today, so I'll pull both batteries and check & clean all connections there. Then, I'll check the connections inside the split loom near the paddle wheel. If this doesn't fix it, I'm leaning toward an internal problem.